According to the report, “Sirin­dhorn flew [by helicopter] from Phnom Penh to Ratanakkiri province and back again on Monday, alighting for a lakeside lunch and the open­ing of a health center on the first day of her three-day visit to the country.”

The report states that at “Yeak Lom Lake in Ban­lung City, where a luxurious outhouse had been constructed at her request” was inspected but went unused.

Deputy provincial governor Nhem Sam Oeun stated: “She did not use the toilet … but she went to see the bathroom…. When she went back to Phnom Penh, they re­moved the modern toilet.”

We had thought that this was only “necessary” if the vast expanse of royal butt was seated on the “throne.” Apparently not.

Built by the Siam Cement Group, firmly lodged in the Crown Property Bureau, the unused toilet remains as an empty building.

Absent its “throne,” the 8-square-meter building might be used for something else. Or it might not.

What did the toilet shy princess do in Ratanakkiri? Reportedly, she “presided over a ribbon-cutting cer­emony for a public health cen­ter in O’Chum district that had been donated by the Thai roy­al fam­ily…”. The “investment” in the toilet and building was 15% of the health center.